Three-dimensional sheet materials which include a thin layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive protected from inadvertent contact, as well as methods and apparatus for manufacturing them, have been developed and are described in detail in commonly-assigned patents, namely, Hamilton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,758, entitled “Composite Material Releasably Sealable to a Target Surface When Pressed Thereagainst and Method of Making”, Hamilton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,607, entitled “Material Having A Substance Protected by Deformable Standoffs and Method of Making”, McGuire et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,235, entitled “Three-Dimensional, Nesting-Resistant Sheet Materials and Method and Apparatus for Making Same”, and Hamilton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,062, entitled “Improved Storage Wrap Materials” and McGuire et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,918, entitled “High Speed Embossing and Adhesive Printing Process and Apparatus”, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
While the processes and equipment for manufacturing such pressure sensitive, adhesive-coated materials described in these patents are suitable for manufacturing, the nature of the processes and equipment can be sensitive to machine set-up. Said differently, the maximum speed at which such processes and equipment can be operated to produce materials can be limited by the size or weight of moving components, machine set-up, the rate at which heat can be applied to deformable substrate materials, the rate at which forces can be imparted to the substrate to deform it into the desired configuration, and/or the rate at which adhesive can be applied to the substrate and/or intermediate apparatus elements. The speed at which such processes and apparatus can be operated is a major factor in the economics of producing such materials on a commercial scale.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved process and apparatus suitable for forming adhesive-coated, three-dimensional sheet materials by applying adhesive at higher speeds than previously disclosed.
It would also be desirable to provide the ability to separately control both the embossing and printing steps of the overall manufacturing process. This separation of the embossing and printing steps can extend the life of an engraved embossing roll, and can result in a better quality embossed pattern as the embossing roll performs only an embossing step rather than an embossing and printing step.